Visvangst op het strand 1648 - 1670

Albert Flamen etched this scene of a 'Fish Catch on the Beach,' teeming with life, or rather, recently departed life, sometime in the 17th century. The arrangement of the fish, seemingly haphazard, carries echoes of vanitas still lifes where marine life symbolizes mortality and the transient nature of earthly existence. Note how the octopus, with its grasping tentacles, dominates the scene, a motif seen across time, from ancient Minoan pottery to medieval bestiaries, where it often embodies the untamed, chaotic forces of nature. The creatures seem to embody the cycle of life, death, and the subconscious fears associated with the unknown depths of the ocean. The inclusion of a fishing boat in the background also symbolizes man's dominance over the natural world. Like an ouroboros, the serpent eating its own tail, such arrangements remind us that symbols constantly resurface, evolving, and taking on new meanings in different historical contexts.